Mick Colageo - 5 Things: Bruins head into Olympics with big win

Sunday

Feb 9, 2014 at 12:01 AM

BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of goals and six other players had multi-point games as the Bruins ran through the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. Here are five things we learned:

BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of goals and six other players had multi-point games as the Bruins ran through the Ottawa Senators 7-2 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. Here are five things we learned:

The NHL goes away for the next 17 days, but the Bruins (37-16-4) left a good taste behind with their seventh win in their last 10 games leading into the Olympic break (7-1-2). "I was pretty impressed with our whole approach to this game, and where there could have been a lot of distractions and everything else, our guys played so well today," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "Puck was moving well, good decisions all around, a real solid game for us and a great way to finish." Saturday the Bruins' attack was balanced between their top three lines — Bergeron (2-1-3) and linemates Brad Marchand (1-2-3) and Reilly Smith (0-2-2), David Krejci (0-2-2) and linemates Milan Lucic (goal) and Jarome Iginla (1-1-2) and third-liners Carl Soderberg (1-1-2), Chris Kelly (goal) and Loui Eriksson (0-2-2). "Everything that could've happened didn't," said Julien. "No matter what Zdeno (Chara) left, our game didn't change. If anything, we played even better because we knew that we lost a big piece of our team back there, but the guys on the back end played so well and responded extremely well under the circumstances."

HAS MADE ITS CASE.

Chalk up another solid 21:27 of ice time for Matt Bartkowski, including two shots on net, a team-high two shot-blocks and two hits. Twice this season the rookie defenseman has had three minus games in a row, but after hitting those statistical lulls, he has had only one minus outing in his last 28 games. The result: If general manager Peter Chiarelli doesn't like the bounty or the market, he indicated before Saturday's game that he may only band-aid players to ensure proper depth for the playoffs. "I don't know — Bart's been in that top four and he's been playing well," said Chiarelli before the game. "It's a bit of supply and demand so I don't really — the names I am thinking about and talking about, maybe two or three of them can play in the top four and the rest of them would maybe shuttle in and out and play down a little bit." A player-movement freeze is in effect for the Olympic break, so no official news will be forthcoming from any team or the league until the Winter Games are over and the NHL is set to resume its schedule. The trade deadline is 3 p.m. ET March 5.

HIS SWEDE SPOT.

The Swedish national team did not have Carl Soderberg on its radar for the 2014 Sochi Games, and missing the first six games of the season delayed his progress as an NHLer, and as a Bruin. But the creation of a line with Chris Kelly and Loui Eriksson has been a career changer for the 6-foot-3, 28-year-old. Soderberg has been on the scoreboard with a goal or an assist in five of the past seven games, and Saturday he raised his season totals to 9-21-30. The ironic part of it is that Soderberg has been recast as a center, a position he played the past two seasons in Sweden. "Obviously, I feel a little bit better there, but I can play wing as well," said Soderberg, who took on the pivot position despite limited peripheral vision out of his left eye. The limitation stems from an injury sustained in January 2008 that cost him the rest of that season and the first part of the next one. Net absence: one year. His bounce-back has been below the radar, but the Bruins are now the beneficiary.

ANY DOUBT.

Watching former Bruins backup Anton Khudobin not only pushing Carolina star Cam Ward for playing time but outright taking away the Hurricanes' No. 1 job is convenient grounds for questioning Boston's offseason strategy in letting Khudobin go so they could bring in a new backup goalie at $200,000 less. But Chad Johnson continues to get the job done. "I think everybody wants to leave on a good note so it was nice to get the win," said Johnson. "This is the last game I've had so it's the most important and the next one I have is going to be the most important. I think every game that I play in — I think everybody plays — is the most important." It's a mentality a professional management and coaching team would love. The 6-foot-3 goaltender from Saskatoon, SK, Canada, has been seeing the net during this stretch of games almost as often as starter Tuukka Rask. He has now has five straight wins to go with an impressive 11-3 season record, a 2.13 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE.

Ottawa (26-22-11) had come into Boston having won four of its prior six games but had no gas in the tank for the kind of battle the Bruins demanded of the Senators. An early case in point was when pesky winger Zach Smith shoved back at Miller after absorbing a strong bodycheck. Miller objected to the shove and challenged Smith, who dropped the gloves with the Boston rookie, only to get pounded. Boston's play rose and Ottawa's did not. "Yeah, obviously it's an embarrassing game and not the way we wanted to go into the break," said Senators captain Jason Spezza. "Hopefully, we can draw from the next time we play these guys." The season series is over, and Ottawa faces a moshpit of competition for the eighth playoffs spot in the Eastern Conference. The more intense Bruins earned Ottawa coach Paul MacLean's respect. "The other team obviously showed that they were better prepared and better structured, which they are," said MacLean. "They're one of the best teams in the east and we've often said that we respect the way they play, and they certainly — we probably owe them a couple of bucks for the clinic they put on today."

Mick Colageo covers hockey for The Standard-Times. Contact him at mcolageo@s-t.com, visit Rink Rap at blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins and follow on Twitter @Mick Colageo.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.